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Looks awesome. But I still don't think compromising the main belt for a hangar is the wisest of ideas.

Ermm, maybe I should have made this clearer earilier. In my design the main belt is not compromised for the hangar. Indeed, an Harpoon missile might just penetrate the armour protecting the hangar, however that is after the missile can get pass Alsace's enormous air defence system. I did put a lot of emphasis on air defense, you know. Anyways if you still want to criticize my hangar I'll just say that it is a problem to be remedied in the Strasbourg I mentioned to you before.

When we created Artificial Intelligence, we also created Artificial Stupidity. - Gaia commenting on robots.
Proud member of shipbucket, and my own gaiabucket

Ermm, maybe I should have made this clearer earilier. In my design the main belt is not compromised for the hangar. Indeed, an Harpoon missile might just penetrate the armour protecting the hangar, however that is after the missile can get pass Alsace's enormous air defence system. I did put a lot of emphasis on air defense, you know. Anyways if you still want to criticize my hangar I'll just say that it is a problem to be remedied in the Strasbourg I mentioned to you before.

Ah. Well, that I didn't know. In my Lion the belt goes up to the edge of the deck, and I expected it to be the same here.

Ah. Well, that I didn't know. In my Lion the belt goes up to the edge of the deck, and I expected it to be the same here.

I'd also like to say that armour might not be the main emphasis for warships in a modern age. It's missile defence. (Although truly Alsace's armour allowed her to take in an immense amount of punishment before she had to be scuttled in her last sortie )

When we created Artificial Intelligence, we also created Artificial Stupidity. - Gaia commenting on robots.
Proud member of shipbucket, and my own gaiabucket

Well, I'm sorry if she took up a lot of space on your screen. But Alsace is certainly not that huge (she's meant to sink other ships anyways ). Alsace is only around 10 % bigger than the USN Iowas. Wait till you see my Stealth BB Strasbourg and you'll know what's big.

When we created Artificial Intelligence, we also created Artificial Stupidity. - Gaia commenting on robots.
Proud member of shipbucket, and my own gaiabucket

Sorry folks, been REAL busy lately. (writing research papers ) Nevertheless here's the update, but this still need some revising though.

............

PlaceHolder

“…having a good rest, my good sir?”

“Yes, much thanks to you, Monsieur Quatermain.”
Rommel was resting himself on a small bed inside Quatermain’s cottage. There was nothing much around inside the cottage except for a few furnitures and other belongings, revealing a life of simplicity.

“Make yourself at home. I do not have much guests in such wilderness here, and I am certainly delighted to have one,” said Quatermain before he went out of his cottage.

…

“Monsieur rommel, would you please come out with me for a moment?”

“Yes, Monsieur Quatermain?” asked Rommel.

“I’d like to do some shooting outside, care to join me?” asked Quatermain who was holding his rifle.

“Most Certainly, Monsieur Quatermain.”

It was a sunny day with a clear blue sky over the green plains of South Africa. Quatermain was holding his Model 1895 Mauser Rifle standing outside waiting for Rommel in the nice and warm weather.

“Can you see that tree over there?” asked Quatermain as he pointed at a general direction.

“Yes, that lone tree around eight hundred metres away?”
“Exactly. Now can you shift your view to the leaf at the tip of the highest branch?” asked Quatermain after he looked through his rifle scope.

Rommel took out his own telescope and shifted his view to where Quatermain was indicating.

“Yes. What about it?” he asked.

“Please witness the following carefully.”

Quatermain tighten his grip around his rifle, and carefully aimed before he fired a shot. A second later, the leaf Rommel was focusing in his view was shot out of the branch completely intact.

“Well, Monsieur Rommel. I see that you also carry a rifle of your own. Would you mind shooting something too?”

“Very well,” said Rommel as he draw his Mauser G98 and attached a Zeiss 10x telescope sight before he took aim at the same lone tree on the plains. A breeze was blowing, and let the fallen leaf gain some altitude.

In quick succession, Rommel fired round after round from his Mauser, and emptied the whole five-round magazine in a matter of seconds.

“This… this is…” began Quatermain. From his telescoping view, he saw the bullets fired by Rommel obliterating the leaf piece by piece.

“I believe you can find some good use with this rife, Monsieur Quatermain,” said Rommel as he handed Quatermain his Mauser after he removed the Zeiss telescope.

“I do have another rifle in use, so do not feel troubled by receiving this. Furthermore, this can be viewed as my gift to you for your hospitality.”

“Very well, then,” said Quatermain as he hold Rommel’s Mauser in his hands. “If you wish it to be so, I have no reasons to object.”

From the horizon a rider could suddenly be spotted. As the rider became closer, it became clear that the rider was a woman. A young, beautiful and lively woman.

“Ahhh… my wife have returned,” said Quatermain.

“Your wife?”

“Yes, my wife Margaretha, who is responsible for my broken French if you must say. She will love your company, too, Monsieur Rommel,” said Quatermain smiling as he went forward to greet his wife.

…

“You do live a quite simple life with your wife here, Monsieur Quatermain,” remarked Rommel.

“Yes, indeed, Monsieur Rommel. I previously had an adventurous and thrilling life. It is too much for me now, and I desire a peaceful life with my beautiful wife here.”

“… peaceful…” muttered Rommel.

Rommel and Quatermain sat around a fire and had just finished a cook out dinner they had outside.

“About what happened a few days ago, I do assume that you didn’t provoke the native population or anything, right?”

“Correct. In fact, I was ambushed by them with no apparent cause I can think of,” replied Rommel.

“Ambush… ehhh,” remarked Quatermain as he threw another piece of wood into the fire. “… that has happened quite often lately.”

“…you mean…?” asked Rommel.

“You are not the only one who was ambushed, and you are among the very few, if not the only one, that is still alive, Monsieur Rommel. There have been many attacks by the native population recently, all without any reasons or causes. I’ve been living here for quite a long time, you know, and even I couldn’t come up with some explanations for these attacks. Although there is a rumor going on lately in this area that might provide some lead…”

“…rumor…?”

“Yes, some rumor about the local “white queen” has found her long lost lover.”

“Rest well tonight, then. My wife shall guide you to Pretoria next morning. I suppose you can wait till tomorrow, no?”

“This… this is a bit too much to ask…” began Rommel.

“Do not feel troubled about it. My wife will be leaving for Pretoria tomorrow anyways. She wishes to get some supplies in town before visiting the refugee camps that were being set up. The War we’ve around here had displaced many inhabitants… Monsieur Rommel.”

“Certainly… the War…” muttered Rommel as he look at the zenith of the night sky above him.

…

The next morning, Rommel had packed up his belongings and mounted on a horse provided by Quatermain. Quatermain’s wife Margaretha was also mounted and ready for the trip to Pretoria.

“Farewell, Monsieur Rommel, and take care, my dear Margaretha,” said Quatermain to Rommel and his wife.

“Farewell, Monsieur Quatermain,” said Rommel before he turned to Margaretha. “I hope I’d not trouble you too much on our trip, Madame Quatermain.”

“One more thing. Do not call me “Madame Quatermain”. You may call me “Mata Hari” if you prefer.”

“Mata… Hari?”

“Yes, it’s my stage name when I used to be dancing, but that was before I met Allan,” said Mata Hari. “Let’s go shall we? We do have quite some distance to cover.” Mata Hari bid another farewell to Quatermain, before she rode off with Rommel trailing behind.

Quatermain watched Rommel and Mara Hari left his cottage, before he turned back into his cottage again. Two men had appeared out of nowhere and were apparently waiting for him.

“Is the man truly impressive?” asked one of the men.

“Yes, Monsieur Rommel… is certainly an amzaing man, but let’s cut to the point, shall we? What tasks does the Crown requires me to do this time… Mr. Holmes?” asked Quatermain to Holmes and Watson who were standing on the porch of his residence.

Last edited by gaiasabre11; 07-05-2009 at 22:40.

When we created Artificial Intelligence, we also created Artificial Stupidity. - Gaia commenting on robots.
Proud member of shipbucket, and my own gaiabucket

A certain someone is missing in this Scene. But then again, he is teenaged at this point at best.

Well, well, there's still time for him to grow up into a man.

Originally Posted by Enewald

Hmm, odd, strange, weird, but still magnificent reading!
The mysteriousness of this aars just keeps making it more better update by update!

Glad you like it, Enewald, and welcome to Africa. Rommel's adventure in Africa will probably be the most fascinating part of this AAR up until it reaches the climax at the end.

Originally Posted by Kurt_Steiner

"Grietje" Zelle? Here?

Amazing...

I have to reread Rider Haggard again, methinks...

I said something about doing a combo of Quatermain and her before. But her character here might turn out a bit different then you might expect.

Anyways reading Haggard's works is good, but it won't help you in getting an idea of what's going to happen in the future of this AAR by much. A peek into RE5 might help a bit, but still not too much either.

...

Well, folks, this is the end of the current chapter. All the actors are basically set for the scene we have in Africa. The next update might come in the weekend, but I can make no promises since I have my FINALS coming up. So there should be a period of two weeks without any updates ahead. (I'll be in more pain than all of you, trust me. I even have a final exam on my birthday. ARRRGGHHHH!!!)

When we created Artificial Intelligence, we also created Artificial Stupidity. - Gaia commenting on robots.
Proud member of shipbucket, and my own gaiabucket

I've been playing RE4 and it is...fantastic. I've just gotten to 3-3 (after the maze). I look forward to blasting Salazar.

What's with that flower? I'm confused.

Well, well, 3-3? You've only just begun the game. RE4 doesn't officially start until Chapter 3, methinks. (Ch 1 and 2 are just warmups, right? ) Anyways I'm not trying to spoil your fun but saying this, but the fight with Salazar is sooooooo bloody easy. (If you know how, of course) I personally finished him off in, say, 10 seconds? The boss fights in Chapter 5 will be harder and you should expect those.

Confused about the flowers? Well, you can peek into the storyline of RE5 to know something about them.

When we created Artificial Intelligence, we also created Artificial Stupidity. - Gaia commenting on robots.
Proud member of shipbucket, and my own gaiabucket

A small update coming up. This will be the last update before the two week period of final exams waiting for me.

.........

A few days later, on the plains of South Africa

“How long have you been in Africa, Monsieur Rommel?”

“For some time now, for some time,” replied Rommel to Mata Hari, who was riding by his side. “How about you, Mata… Hari?”

“Well, for some time now too, Monsieur Rommel,” said Mata Hari as she let out a small laugh.

It was another day of nice weather for Rommel and Mata Hari, with the sun was high above their heads. The two had stopped by a small river to rest and give their horses a drink. The two had a few sandwiches for lunch.

“So… when will we make it to Pretoria?” asked Rommel.

“We should be able to reach Pretoria in less than two days, possibly even before the sun sets tomorrow if we quicken our current pace.”

“Do you… have any idea of the War going on lately?”

“It’s hard for me to say, Monsieur Rommel, but as far as I know the War is largely over. However guerrilla groups seemed to be springing out all over the country right now.” Mata Hari answered while letting out a sigh.

“What about the refugee camps… what is it all about?” asked Rommel.

“… Let’s get back on horses, shall we? We had a good rest already” Mata Hari did not answer, but simply got up with a troubled look on her face.

“There’s something going on the refugee camps that you don’t know, and would not want to know” whispered Mata Hari in her lowest voice possible. The whistling of the wind easily prevented Rommel from hearing any of those words.

Rommel did not asked anything further, and the two mounted their horses again and continue on their journey. As Rommel and Mata Hari were reached the top of a small ridge, they noticed some hustling around some distance away from them. Not far away where they were, they spotted a group of Zulu warriors were in a hot pursuit for a single man. The man appeared to be quite exhausted and could barely ran any more, while his pursuers were closing the distance astonishingly quick. One of the Zulu warriors threw his spear at the running man and grazed his foot, causing the man to fall to the ground.

“It looks like that man is in deep trouble,” said Mata Hari without turning away from the scene.

“Yes, real deep trouble,” replied Rommel.

Without further wasting any precious moments, Rommel and Mata Hari charged down the ridge full speed.

As he close in the ranks of the Zulu warriors, Rommel immediately bayonetted the closest Zulu warrior straight in the face with his Mondragon, before he leapt down from his horse and started blasting away with his shotgun. By aiming directly at his foes’ heads, Rommel was able to easily dispatch the oncoming slaughter with relative ease.

More Zulu warriors were falling to the ground as a few rifle shots cracked through the air, their skulls pierced by the powerful rounds fired. Rommel turned and took a glimpse behind him and saw Mata Hari holding a Mauser proudly on her horse and taking more shots.

“Monsieur Rommel, they are getting to the man!” cried Mata Hari as she tried to reload her rifle as quick as possible. A few Zulu warriors were gathering around the fallen man, while one prepared to strike a final blow at the man with the point of his spear aimed at the man’s exposed throat.

Rommel rushed ahead to the fallen man without further haste, and drew a dagger before throwing it at the Zulu warrior. The blade struck the warrior at the back of his head and the warrior immediately fell not to rise again.

The other Zulu warriors sensed Rommel’s presence and began charged at him. However, Rommel was able to dodge and grabbed hold of one of the spears directed against him. In a swift combination of movements Rommel knocked over the warrior who was holding the spear on the other end and took control of the spear, in which he used to decapitate the foes within the striking range of the spear.

The few remaining Zulu warriors noticed that the situation was quite different than from moments before, and after giving Rommel and the others hateful glares they retreated and left from the scene.

“What’s your name, good sir?” asked Rommel as he helped the fallen man up. The man’s wound was not seriously, but still it needed treatment to prevent infection.

The man took a deep breath before he muttered something out of his mouth.